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This is Fresh Air.

I'm Tanya Moosley.

This past summer, electronic music producer and DJ Jennifer Lee, better known as Tokie

Monster, released one of her latest collaborations.

The song is entitled Eats the Tail with vocalist Rochelle Jordan and it's a pun on the word

tail, instead of a serpent eating its own tail.

In Tokie Monster's version, the tail is the false stories we often consume about ourselves.

Tokie Monster came into her own story through a near-death experience.

In 2016, she was diagnosed with a rare brain disease that required two surgeries, leaving

her temporarily unable to understand sound or speak.

This was devastating for Tokie Monster, who had before this diagnosis become a well-known

and respected artist in the electronic music world, having released six albums and numerous

collaborations with artists like Anderson Pock and Salah Sue, and producing remixes

by works from pop stars like Beck and David Bowie.

But after just two months of recovery from brain surgery, Tokie Monster pushed herself

to make music again, creating one of her most personal albums, Loon Rouge, which garnered

a 2019 Grammy nomination for Best Dance Electronic Album.

Following Tokie Monster, the first female Asian-American producer to receive a nomination

...